Abstract The number of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in Ontario is growing. Given the predicted nursing shortage due to an aging nursing workforce and a short supply of nursing graduates, this trend will probably continue as international recruitment to meet nursing demands in Canada continues. Current Canadian research that examines IENs’ experience as they integrate into their workplaces is scarce. With an increasingly diverse Canadian and patient population due to rising immigration trends, a workforce that addresses the needs of the diverse patient population is valuable. Therefore an in-depth understanding of IENs’ experience, their contribution to nursing practice, and their distinct role in promoting health care access to Canada’s diverse population is necessary. A qualitative study using descriptive phenomenology was used to explore the integration experiences of eleven IENs within the Ontario, Canada health care system. Interviews were conducted to examine their experience of integrating into Canadian work settings. Thematic analysis informed by a descriptive phenomenological lens was used to uncover the essence of the IEN’s integration experience. The findings are categorized into five major themes including: Relationship with colleagues; Professional knowledge and experience; Organizational practices and work environment; Cross-cultural and linguistic competence; and IENs as an asset to nursing and patient care. These findings were nested within an overarching theme of resilience and an intrinsic motivation to establish their credibility as competent nurses. These findings highlight IENs’ unique integration experiences, and contribute to Canadian literature in the field, especially in terms of an understanding of IENs’ unique contribution to nursing in Canada. Implications and recommendations for nursing with regards to practice, education, research, and administration are presented.

Abstract The number of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in Ontario is growing. Given the predicted nursing shortage due to an aging nursing workforce and a short supply of nursing graduates, this trend will probably continue as international recruitment to meet nursing demands in Canada continues. Current Canadian research that examines IENs’ experience as they integrate into their workplaces is scarce. With an increasingly diverse Canadian and patient population due to rising immigration trends, a workforce that addresses the needs of the diverse patient population is valuable. Therefore an in-depth understanding of IENs’ experience, their contribution to nursing practice, and their distinct role in promoting health care access to Canada’s diverse population is necessary. A qualitative study using descriptive phenomenology was used to explore the integration experiences of eleven IENs within the Ontario, Canada health care system. Interviews were conducted to examine their experience of integrating into Canadian work settings. Thematic analysis informed by a descriptive phenomenological lens was used to uncover the essence of the IEN’s integration experience. The findings are categorized into five major themes including: Relationship with colleagues; Professional knowledge and experience; Organizational practices and work environment; Cross-cultural and linguistic competence; and IENs as an asset to nursing and patient care. These findings were nested within an overarching theme of resilience and an intrinsic motivation to establish their credibility as competent nurses. These findings highlight IENs’ unique integration experiences, and contribute to Canadian literature in the field, especially in terms of an understanding of IENs’ unique contribution to nursing in Canada. Implications and recommendations for nursing with regards to practice, education, research, and administration are presented.

The purpose of this study is to compare persons with trained voices and persons with untrained voices in their abilities to utilize tactile-kinesthetic feed-back when attempting to control vocal intensity.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis explores the barriers that are preventing large numbers of permanent resident overseas-trained doctors (PROTDs) from working as general practitioners (GPs) in rural New South Wales (NSW). It focuses specifically on doctors from non-English speaking backgrounds who are permanent residents of Australia or Australian citizens, and who migrated to Australia for reasons other than employment. This thesis explores the views and perceptions of PROTDs and does not specifically consider the views of other stakeholders. Archival, qualitative and quantitative research techniques have been used to determine the suitability of the policies and practices governing the appointment and registration of PROTDs in NSW, and to identify any policy changes required. This research demonstrates that the policies governing medical registration in NSW have frequently been driven by political factors, and have, at times, been used to control the size of the medical workforce. As a consequence of these policies, many PROTDs have been prevented from working as a doctor in NSW. Of particular concern is the lack of training or clinical experience available to PROTDs and their difficulties preparing for, and passing, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) examinations. The lack of accurate information regarding the requirements and opportunities for medical practice in NSW is also a major problem. PROTDs in NSW are unable to get the training and support they need to meet the requirements for medical registration in NSW and are rapidly losing their confidence, and their clinical skills. Not all PROTDs are going to have, or be able to acquire, the skills and knowledge required for general practice in rural NSW. However the need for additional doctors is sufficiently great to warrant a proactive approach from governments and relevant agencies. In the seven years it has taken to complete this research, most of the discriminatory aspects of the assessment and registration of PROTDs in NSW have been removed. However the legacy of previous policies and practices remains and a large number of PROTDs remain out of the medical workforce.

There has been much discussion regarding whether the capability to perceive speech is uniquely human. The “Speech is Special” (SiS) view proposes that humans possess a specialized cognitive module for speech perception (Mann & Liberman, 1983). In contrast, the “Auditory Hypothesis” (Kuhl, 1988) suggests spoken-language evolution took advantage of existing auditory-system capabilities. In support of the Auditory Hypothesis, there is evidence that Panzee, a language-trained chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), perceives speech in synthetic “sine-wave” and “noise-vocoded” forms (Heimbauer, Beran, & Owren, 2011). Human comprehension of these altered forms of speech has been cited as evidence for specialized cognitive capabilities (Davis, Johnsrude, Hervais-Adelman, Taylor, & McGettigan, 2005). In light of Panzee’s demonstrated abilities, three experiments extended these investigations of the cognitive processes underlying her speech perception. The first experiment investigated the acoustic cues that Panzee and humans use when identifying sine-wave and noise-vocoded speech. The second experiment examined Panzee’s ability to perceive “time-reversed” speech, in which individual segments of the waveform are reversed in time. Humans are able to perceive such speech if these segments do not much exceed average phoneme length. Finally, the third experiment tested Panzee’s ability to generalize across both familiar and novel talkers, a perceptually challenging task that humans seem to perform effortlessly. Panzee’s performance was similar to that of humans in all experiments. In Experiment 1, results demonstrated that Panzee likely attends to the same “spectro-temporal” cues in sine-wave and noise-vocoded speech that humans are sensitive to. In Experiment 2, Panzee showed a similar intelligibility pattern as a function of reversal-window length as found in human listeners. In Experiment 3, Panzee readily recognized words not only from a variety of familiar adult males and females, but also from unfamiliar adults and children of both sexes. Overall, results suggest that a combination of general auditory processing and sufficient exposure to meaningful spoken language is sufficient to account for speech-perception evidence previously proposed to require specialized, uniquely human mechanisms. These findings in turn suggest that speech-perception capabilities were already present in latent form in the common evolutionary ancestors of modern chimpanzees and humans.

This study examines how the credentialing process for foreign-trained engineers implemented by the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) affects newcomers from the former Soviet Union and Russia seeking to re-enter the profession. Applying critical sociological theory to its analysis of data generated through qualitative methods, it highlights how the ethnic, racial, and educational background of applicants shapes their encounters with the PEO and the outcome of their applications. It sheds light on the crises of identity and in social and family relations experienced by these individuals, as well as the lack of supporting services to address such crises. This study contributes to existing literature on the subject by taking a new approach to the credentialing of foreign-trained engineers in Ontario, focusing on the perspective of individual applicants rather than structural factors. It concludes with specific recommendations on how the process could be improved and the regulatory body itself reformed.

This study examines how the credentialing process for foreign-trained engineers implemented by the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) affects newcomers from the former Soviet Union and Russia seeking to re-enter the profession. Applying critical sociological theory to its analysis of data generated through qualitative methods, it highlights how the ethnic, racial, and educational background of applicants shapes their encounters with the PEO and the outcome of their applications. It sheds light on the crises of identity and in social and family relations experienced by these individuals, as well as the lack of supporting services to address such crises. This study contributes to existing literature on the subject by taking a new approach to the credentialing of foreign-trained engineers in Ontario, focusing on the perspective of individual applicants rather than structural factors. It concludes with specific recommendations on how the process could be improved and the regulatory body itself reformed.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis explores the barriers that are preventing large numbers of permanent resident overseas-trained doctors (PROTDs) from working as general practitioners (GPs) in rural New South Wales (NSW). It focuses specifically on doctors from non-English speaking backgrounds who are permanent residents of Australia or Australian citizens, and who migrated to Australia for reasons other than employment. This thesis explores the views and perceptions of PROTDs and does not specifically consider the views of other stakeholders. Archival, qualitative and quantitative research techniques have been used to determine the suitability of the policies and practices governing the appointment and registration of PROTDs in NSW, and to identify any policy changes required. This research demonstrates that the policies governing medical registration in NSW have frequently been driven by political factors, and have, at times, been used to control the size of the medical workforce. As a consequence of these policies, many PROTDs have been prevented from working as a doctor in NSW. Of particular concern is the lack of training or clinical experience available to PROTDs and their difficulties preparing for, and passing, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) examinations. The lack of accurate information regarding the requirements and opportunities for medical practice in NSW is also a major problem. PROTDs in NSW are unable to get the training and support they need to meet the requirements for medical registration in NSW and are rapidly losing their confidence, and their clinical skills. Not all PROTDs are going to have, or be able to acquire, the skills and knowledge required for general practice in rural NSW. However the need for additional doctors is sufficiently great to warrant a proactive approach from governments and relevant agencies. In the seven years it has taken to complete this research, most of the discriminatory aspects of the assessment and registration of PROTDs in NSW have been removed. However the legacy of previous policies and practices remains and a large number of PROTDs remain out of the medical workforce.

No description available.

No description available.